1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a fuel tank structure equipped with a flame arrester and, more particularly, to a fuel bleed opening and to a structure for closing the fuel bleed opening.
2. Description of Related Art
In a fuel tank of a motorcycle it is known to provide a wire-netting style flame arrester inside a fuel filler port of a fuel tank to prevent invasion of a fire source into the fuel tank while allowing the fuel to be fed through the fuel filler port. See, for example, JP-A No. 2009-101855. It is also known, in a fuel tank of a saddle-ride type vehicle, to insert a fuel bleeding pipe through a fuel filler port to bleed the fuel inside the fuel tank. In this regard see, for example, JP-A No. 2005-47334.
However, when a flame arrester is provided in a fuel filler port of a fuel tank as described in JP-A No. 2009-101855, even if the fuel is to be bled using a fuel bleeding pipe as described in JP-A No. 2005-47334, the flame arrester becomes an obstacle, so that the fuel bleeding pipe cannot be inserted to the bottom of the fuel tank, and therefore the fuel cannot be bled. Also, in order to allow the fuel bleeding pipe to reach the bottom of the fuel tank, it may be possible to arrange an opening through which the fuel bleeding pipe is inserted in the flame arrester; however, in this case, in order to secure the function of the flame arrester, the opening is required to be blocked after the fuel has been bled, which presents problems that the structure becomes complicated and the work requires man-hours. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a fuel tank structure allowing bleeding of fuel through the fuel filler port.